INSECT LIFE IN INDIA. 



675 



ing out feeds upon the caterpillars. This wasp is much attacked by 

 parasites, one of which is the cuckoo- 

 wasp, Chrysis fuscipennis mentioned 

 above. Odynerus punctum, another 

 Indian species shown in Fig. 69, 

 makes use of holes in door posts, 



&c, especially vacant ones made 



1 J r IG. 69.— Odynerus punctum 



by large nails or screws. The hole (Bengal), 



is filled with provisions and the orifice is then covered over level 

 with the surface of the wood so as to escape observation. This genus 

 is said to be destroyed by Chrysididce. The members of the genus 

 Khynchium also prey upon insects, usually selecting the interior of 

 stems for their nests. jR. hrunneum (Fig. 70) makes use of hollow 



bamboo stems. Home records a case 

 in which a female of this species took 

 possession of a stem in which the 

 bee, Megacliile lanata, had already 

 built two cells. The wasp first con- 

 structed a partition of wood over the 

 spot occupied by the bee, this parti- 

 tion being similar to that which it makes use of for separating the 

 spaces intended for its own young. 

 This species stores caterpillars 

 intended for its young and this 

 is also the habit of another In- 

 dian species, M. nitidulum (Fig. 71). 

 This latter wasp constructs clay 

 cells, similar to those of Eumenes, 

 which it fixes firmly to wood. 



The social wasps (Vespidse) live 

 in colonies, as in the case of the 



Fig. 70. — Rhynohjum brunneum. 

 (India). 



Fig. 71. — Rhynchium nitidulum. (Bar- 

 rackpore.) 



social bees, consisting of males, females and workers. They build in- 

 geniously constructed nests consisting of a paper-like substance com- 

 posed of chewed wood or bark. These nests consist of one or more 

 horizontal combs, each composed of a number of prismatic hexagonal 

 uells open at their lower ends. These contain the larvae, one in each, 

 which thus hang head downwards. The whole nest may be surround- 

 ed by a firm or loose covering. The larvae are fed upon chewed 



